A Dreamer's Paradise
by Skywolf24
Summary: What happens when the unconscious prince of Gotham washes up on the shore of island deemed by an Immortal princess?
1. Chapter 1

**A Dreamers Paradise **

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**Summary :What happens when the unconscious prince of Gotham washes up on the shore of island deemed by an Immortal princess.**

**A/N:This is an old BMWW tale I wrote for all of you and plus I'm cleaning out all my old files. I'm not sure if I will continue it, I will leave that choice up to you guys. The only difference is that this time the story includes my version of the Bat. I hope you all enjoy it and thank you for following and reviewing all my stories.  
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**A Dreamers Paradise **

**All characters belong to DC Comics**

**I don't know any of these characters**

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Pastel colors of fuchsia and rose of a tropical sunset canvassed the sky, rolling tide waves crashed over the white shore, as Diana, princess of the Amazons looked out at the vast ocean of her deemed new world, anyway from the ivory stone palace of her mother's Queendom. It was a choice of the fates to leave the sheltered island, mother and beloved sisters and ventured out to the Patriarch's world of mortality and discovered the destiny she was granted from the pardon gods.

It was almost nightfall, the calm breeze rushed across her flawless flesh as she scoured the shoreline on bare feet, her toes were digging into the moist sand. All defenses were up.

She cautiously surveyed the area, drawing out her sword as she felt an unsettling knot bubbled into the pit of her stomach. She approached the washed up unconscious body of mortal flesh, curiously, her cerulean blue eyes stared down at the motionless, mystery they beheld.

Diana mounted her feet, inches away as she settled her heated gaze on his thick muscle planes of his back, she jerks back. A pair of soft green eyes fluttered opened to the shafts of dimming light sculpting over his body. He lifted himself, choking up a stream water draining out of his lungs.

She narrowed her blade to the side of his head. "State your name trespasser, no men are allowed to be in the presence of an Amazon." she bellowed calmly, keeping her voice was faltering.

The man straightened on his knees. He looked at her in a daze, trying to regain his sharp focus. "Why am I?" he wheezed out and furrowed his eyebrows as he caught his reflection in the blade inches away from his cheek.

"I ask you a question," Diana replied, clenching her jaw, fingers gripping tightly over her swords handle. "Why have you come to this island that welcomes no man?"

His hand rubbed the gash on his forehead, and then he stared out to the ocean. "Shipwrecked." he answered in a somber tone.

Diana allowed eyes surveyed over his dark brown wavy drenched hair that touched the nape of his broad neck, bangs hung over his intense metallic bluish-green eyes.

She looked at his athletic build and his strong jaw, his accented cheeks and his pale rose lips. He was gorgeous to look at, she even felt a shivering whirl through her heated veins.

She instantly averted her eyes, feeling foolish to stare into the face of forbidden flesh. And he was looking at her, a genuine smile as his hand push away the blade. Her lips parted as she spoke, "What is your name?"

"I will only tell you what you need to know once you put away the sword." he answered simply. "I am not going to harm you Amazon." He steadily gazed into her beautiful, clear ocean blue eyes, long raven hair and red lips. She was dressed a white gown with silver bracelets wrapped around her wrists. "You have my word."

The princess nodded slightly and withdrew her blade, and took a few steps back. "Alright, now tell me your name?" she ordered with a hint of fierceness in her voice and blue eyes.

The man rose from the ground, giving her a clear view of his half naked body, only wearing a pair of torn pants. She smirked displaying an impressive expression as her eyes bore into his thick sculpted chest pectorals and firm abdomen.

"Hera," she muttered, feeling butterflies flutter in her stomach. The feature that made her feel entranced was his piercing seawater colored eyes that had flames of untamed desire imbedded within the chasms of determination and tenderness. An awkward silence fell between them. "Who are you?"

He widely grinned, eyes growing mischievous. "Sorry Amazon, but I usually don't give people who threaten life... My name. Unless they tell me theirs first."

Diana's eyes widened, as she gnashed her teeth and said, "Diana."

"Diana," He savored heavenly her name on his fine lips. She listened to his deep regal tone. He didn't reach for her hand instead stood in a straight stance and stated his name. Lips played a straight line, she could tell he was hesitant about revealing his full name. "I... My name is... Bruce Wayne."

"Bruce Wayne," She allowed her lips to flow with his strong name, she creased her brow. "Are you lying to me?"

Bruce shook his head. "No Diana," he said in a deep tone with assurance. "I'm Bruce Wayne the youngest jet setting billionaire from Gotham City." He didn't hold out his hand instead and turned around and looked at the ocean with puzzlement etched over his features. "Now I'm the shipwrecked billionaire."

"So you washed up on the shore of this island... Because the vessel that carried you got destroyed?" she implied, folding her arms over her chest in a protective manner. Bruce turned his focus back on her.

"That's makes a good explanation," A hint of a frown brushed over his lips. "Everyone else was safe." She watched his lips form into a brooding expression. "I need to get back to Gotham."

"Why?" she asked.

"There are good people who might be in danger because of me Diana. People that I care about... If I don't act and find a way to get off this island. They might perish."

Diana lowered her eyes for a moment. "Is your family is trouble?"

Bruce paused, his eyes glared an icy coldness to her. "No. Just good people who I promised to protect." he started walking away and ejected an addition of words. "I just need to gather a few materials to build a raft and then I will leave your island, Diana."

Diana mashed her teeth into her bottom lip, tension was rising in her body. She was going to create a defilement of her mother's law of interacting with a mortal man, she found him intriguing, fierce and strong-willed. All the qualities of a warrior.

"Bruce," she called out.

He glanced back. "Diana," his voice sounded a bit surprised as she raced towards him giving a small smile.

"You don't know this island like I do," she replied, with a firm voice. "I will guide you to the destinations that you need to find. Only on one condition."

He nodded, and then rasped out. "Name it?"

"You tell me more about this Man's World."

Bruce stared sincerely into her eyes and half smiled. "Deal."


	2. Chapter 2

**A Dreamers Paradise **

**Chapter 2**

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_Hera, I'm a traitor to the rules forged by the words of my mother, _Diana thought as she began to make her trek through the groves of Greek Fir trees that shrouded the face of the high points of the island with dark green lush. She looked over her shoulder, catching a glance at the young billionaire was he trailed behind her with his own seawater eyes alert to the mysterious surroundings of his new discovery. She spun on her the heels of her feet and blocked his path with a piercing gaze of curious blue as her lips slowly parted to release a faint, compressed breath before she spoke with a stern voice, "Tell me more about this Man's World, Bruce Wayne?"

He nodded, "What would you like to know, Diana?" he asked, staring at her with steadiness in his eyes. "The world of which you speak is different from your home." He looked up at the a yellow plum hanging off a branch." There are no rare fruit trees that hide the brilliance of foundations created by the founding fathers of my city. Everything is my city is dark even in the daylight."

"You speak as if your city of Gotham is cursed with the powers of Erebus." she replied, throwing a hunting knife at the branch, and slicing the stem of the fruit as the plum dropped to the ground. Bruce narrowed his eyes at the fruit with an impressive smirk playing across his soft lips.

"Erebus," he said with a practical tone in his voice. "The Greek god of deep darkness and shadow."

"You pay pardons to the gods?" She asked, bending down and picking up the fruit.

Bruce arched an eyebrow before he answered, "In my city, there are no gods, Diana. Only devils and fallen angels."

"Fallen angels," Diana gave him an unsettling glare, "You mean you do not worship the gods that bless my mother's Queendom and my sisters?"

"My city is not like your island, Diana." He looked at her knife for a moment and then lifted his gaze to her. "May I use your blade?" She clenched her jaw and peered deeply into his seawater eyes, sensing a semblance of trust etched over his handsome features, and then she handed him the knife.

Bruce quickly flew the knife at the targeted fruit and with a swift move caught the plum like a baseball in the palm of his hand. He turned around, and looked at her. "In Gotham, a lot of bad things happen to good people that don't deserve to endure the suffering of murderous crimes and grief. There are good people hiding in the shadows, and sometimes you need to take a moment to stare beyond lies covering those truths." He took a bite into the plum, and Diana watched as a fascination with the juice dripped off his lips and down his neck and over and in between the groves of his tarnished muscles.

Diana felt her cheeks flush with scorching heat as he bit down gently into the yellow flesh of the fruit and swallowed the cool, relishing juice as a rumble of satisfying contentment escaped from his throat. She twisted her lips into a smirk, watching him enjoy the tangy fruit created a strange whirl inside her... She tore her eyes from his sweet glazed lips and stared at the archway of trees.

"Tell me more about your island, Diana," he said, swiping the back of his hand over his lips. "You're a princess of the Amazons. The immortal race of lethal female warriors from the Greek textbooks?"

"Textbooks?" she asked, a dangerous flare welled in her eyes. "You mean like scrolls?"

"Something like that," he replied, throwing the pit to the ground. "I first learned about your kind at Princeton University and plus my father had a library filled with texts about Greek mythology. I guess you're an immortal warrior protected either by the god Hera or Athena."

"I am impressed by your knowledge of my world. My mother told me that mortals had been kept in the dark with these truths about our livelihood here on the island."

He grinned and gently stepped closer to her, body heat wavered over her flawless skin as he listened to her breathe him in with a light inhale. "It's all Greek to me," he said with a lighter, smoother tone in his voice. "Why have you stayed on this island and not leave to discover my world first hand, Diana?"

She narrowed her eyes, "I am forbidden to leave the shores, Bruce Wayne. My mother will never allow me to explore your world. She is proactive for me and my sisters. I will not disobey the laws she has created to shield us from the darkness of mortal kind."

"You only broke that rule, Diana by allowing me to explore this island with you." Bruce reminded her with a smug smirk, "It will be our secret. Once I gather all the supplies I need for the raft I will leave the island and you will make me become nonexistent in your mind."

"You are still going back to Gotham?" she questioned his actions. "After everything you revealed to me about your homeland, you are still going to live in that place... In the darkness?"

He nodded, defiance burned in his eyes, "I have a promise to keep, Diana." He hung his head down in a moment of silence, clenching his hands into fists. "I cannot abandon the city that both of my parents loved and worked hard to restore humanity back on the streets." He opened his intense eyes and locked them with her blue ones before he added, "The evil that lurks in Gotham has taken almost everything from the people and criminals rule the streets by fear. I need to find a way to turn fear against them and make them taste justice."

Diana watched his face instantly darkened, as something lurked inside of his soul. Something fierce, untamed and deadly. The blue of his eyes had become clouded with shadow as she saw the hidden swirls of pain and malice trapped within the chasms of mortality.

"We need to find a place to hide you. The hunting parties can smell the stench of vulnerable prey miles away." she advised, spinning around and scanning over the shadows of the looming trees. "We need to find a high point before the sun sets."

Bruce nodded in agreement, "Sounds like a plan, lead the way, Diana. I'm right behind you."

Diana turned and looked into his seawater eyes, and gave him a gentle smile, "Stay sharp and close to me, Bruce."

Bruce casually walked at her side, his eyes never left her beautiful face and he ignored the stirrings in his densely muscled body as they melted into the trees.


	3. Chapter 3

**A Dreamers Paradise **

**Chapter 3**

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As dusk approached the sky became a canvas of the bright colors of rose and amethyst over the horizon.

In the shadows of the trees bearing yellow fruit, Bruce crouched on a flat rock surface, his chiseled jaw twitched as his piercing seawater blue eyes looked passively outward beyond the tranquil shoreline.

He squinted lightly as the luminosity of the fleeting sunset became captured within the depth of his darkened stare.

His full soft lips parted as sweat dripped down his chin, and his hands clenched into fists as he alerted his eyes to the princess of the Amazons with a friendly smirk playing across his somber expression as his gaze dazzled within the shadows and light brushing over his strong masculine features, "So you are truly an immortal, Diana?" he asked with a rich, baritone

Diana nodded simply, and moved tentatively closer, "We are protected by the deities and with that protection that fell upon the island each of us was granted the gift of immortality." she narrowed her blue eyes to the silver bracelets on her wrists that were etched with the symbol of Athena before adding, "My mother and sisters have endured along this island for so many decades making all of the periods of time seem endless."

"Are you happy living here, Diana?" he asked with stillness in his stare. "It looks to me like you are living as a prisoner that can't experience freedom beyond the shores." He roved his eyes to the horizon, and spoke with a touch of bitterness laced within in his gentle voice, "I've traveled to many places with my parents, seen many urban centers but nothing can compare to this place."

"What makes Themysrica so special to you than Man's World?" She inquired, holding in her emotions guarded as she looked in his light blue eyes. "Our land is full of everlasting peace and splendor the gods bestowed upon us after the big war in the cosmos. I am not a prisoner of this creation that you witness, Bruce." She paused in her language, and moved another inch, feeling a magnetic pull drawing her closer to the young billionaire prince of Gotham. "I am the princess of the Amazons and Athena's champion. I protect my sisters with all of my strength and endure the hardships that my mother makes me endure to become stronger and wiser as a future ruler."

"That's another thing we hold in common, Diana." He answered with contempt in his voice. "You take your mother's mark as the queen of this situation and I run my father's legacy back in Gotham. More or less of men higher top to my family company don't think I'm the right one to convey out what my deceased father made out for the city. I'm only nineteen years old, but I have responsibilities waiting for me both in the office and on the streets."

Diana nodded her head with brief understanding, "Are these responsibilities a part of the reason why you must return to Gotham, Bruce?"

Bruce shook his head, "There has been a war going on within Gotham. The Falcone mob rules the streets and good men that knew my father have made deals with these devils. The yacht was destroyed by natural causes, it was sabotaged by someone who my family trusted for years." He clenched his jaw hard, feeling the blood boil in his veins. "If I don't find a way to stop him than all of Gotham will pay the price for his sins and everything that the good people have built will be undone."

Diana narrowed her eyes, "This devil of who you speak of is someone who you once trusted?"

"No," he answered her with a deep growl, his eyes became veiled by darkness. "He is someone my father trusted as a business partner, but lost his family's fortune by his own arrogance and careless actions hurting a lot of people through the progress." He picked out a stone and threw it through the branches, with a semblance of malice etched over his handsome face, Diana heard a fierce snarl mixed with his low voice. "When I return to Gotham I will deal with him personally."

"You're a young warrior returning to a warpath of revenge?" Diana replied with firmness in her voice. "Are you out for this mortal's blood?"

Bruce turned down his eyes, creasing his tensed brow as the skin underneath his knuckles started to turn white when he tightened his fist. "I will do whatever it takes to stop him from hurting the few people I care about, Diana." He gnashed his teeth as his upper lips curled into a lethal, vindictive scowl. "I'm not going to let him win."

"You're are already letting this person have the victory of this battle, Bruce." Diana spoke softly, putting her hand securely on his thick bicep. "Revenge can become our greatest defeat."

"Don't talk to me about revenge, Amazon, " he spat, jumping down from his perch, crossing his solid arms over his torso. "I've dealt with it all my life." He twisted around only to meet her blade pointing inches from his throat. "What?"

"How dare you speak to me with those words, mortal swine." Diana snarled, clenching her jaw. "I can make your blood spill out with a flick of my wrist and allow you to taste defeat at the hands of a deadly Amazon warrior."

Bruce swallowed thickly, seawater blue eyes narrowing at the dagger. "I didn't mean to offend you, Diana. Put down the knife. There is no need to start a fight between us."

Diana gently lowered her blade, "You need to start trusting those around you, Bruce."

Bruce tightened his lips into a tight seam, "No thanks." he grunted. "Through my experiences I have learned that trusting people can be a deception if given the correct grounds."

"Well, you're getting to have to believe in the trust me if you desire to survive on the island from the hunting parties." Diana returned, with a gentle smile urging on her crimson lips.

Bruce stepped impossibly close to her, putting his heavy hands on her shoulders, he looked at her with sincerity in his shadowy gaze. "I don't trust people, Diana." His eyes fell on her full red lips for a moment, before he met her blue orbs, " But I know that I need your help."

Diana nodded, averting her eyes away from his gaze, " I will assist you, but entirely if you can find out how to place your faith in me, Bruce Wayne."

"Deal," Bruce responded, leaning his head downward as his warm lips brushed a chaste kiss over her cheek, before Diana could retract he vanished into the darkness of the trees surrounding the mountain.

"Hera," Diana gasped, rubbing her hand on heat spot on her cheek, a beautiful smirk etched across her lips. "Mother will not approve of this."

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**A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews. The cover image of the story is the visage of Bruce Wayne that I chose for the character. He will be a younger Batman and there will be lots of romance between Diana and him. Thank you and enjoy.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A Dreamer's Paradise**

**Chapter 4**

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{Flashback}

As the hour of twilight settled over the waters of Gotham Bay, the sky became a canvas of gray slate mixed with tarnished amber. Hidden in the shadows of the balcony, Bruce pressed his back against the vine-covered walls, his penetrating seawater colored eyes looked passively outwards at the distant shapes of Gotham. His soft lips parted as a frustrated breath escaped from his lungs. He furrowed his darkened stare, narrowing his eyes at the vast gardens of his family's estate, his sharp jaw twitched as throb seared inside the confides of his chest.

He felt the edges of his lips curve into a hardened scowl, carving the aggression on his youth features, as he strode somberly to the ledge of the balcony. Large hands gripped the stone, brick, as he became acutely aware of the shadows encroaching around his rigid form. He tensed his strong masculine jaw, and listened with his sharp ears to the soft footfalls echoing behind him.

"Master Wayne?" A familiar rich English voice chimed in the humid breeze. Bruce stubbornly looked over his tensed shoulder, staring with intense eyes at his longtime friend and surrogate father, Alfred J Pennyworth, was an immigrant born in Cockney, England and a former member of the British Red Cross during the events of World War 2, he was an expert of military doctrine skills and a resourceful, undercover agent of withholding secrets from International terrorists. Now, he was the legal guardian of the young Wayne heir and butler to maintain the upkeep of Wayne Manor with his services.

Bruce met his butler's concern blue eyes, "What is it, Alfred?" he spoke, his voice thick and rough.

"Miss Victoria Vale would like to have a word with your presence." Alfred answered, with a stern poise. "She is waiting downstairs in your father's study."

"Tell her I'm busy," Bruce replied, scuffing off the old English man's words. He released a long, and deep sigh. "I don't have time for a nosy reporter from Gotham Times asking ridiculous questions about what happened to my parents. She doesn't deserve to have my attention." He spoke with sourness in his voice.

"With due respect, Master Wayne," Alfred said with a firm voice, directing his gaze down at his young charge. "You need to start to become more open with your guarded emotions. It's the only way you can move on and leave the past where it stays, sir." He narrowed his blue eyes. "You're the youngest Wayne that will keep your family's legacy alive in Gotham. Don't destroy the very bloody thing your father worked so hard to save to keep the hope prevailing in this city."

Bruce regarded his stare away from Alfred, "It doesn't matter anymore Alfred. The Wayne dynasty is fading out, thanks to Oswald Cobblepot taking over half of the city and ruining the East End with his own empire of underground crime lords."

He clenched his hand into a tight fist, his shadowed blue-greenish eyes became transfixed on the white underneath the skin of his knuckles. "The cops here are allowing the tubby freak to ruin everything my father ever built by helping restore Gotham."

Alfred nodded his head with an understanding response, "You can change all of this, Master Wayne." he paced closer to the teenager, placing his firm hand on Bruce's broad shoulder. "All it takes is one man to make a real difference."

"How can one man make a big difference in a city that is rotting to the ground with greed and decay, Alfred?" Bruce questioned his voice cracked with remorse, his face darkened with malice. He instantly crossed his arms over his chest, feeling his breath hitch against the walls of his throat. "If I was half the man my father was, I could have done something to prevent all of this, Alfred."

"You are more like your father than, you know, Master Wayne." Alfred said, his voice gentle, smiling wistfully.

Bruce withdrew a step back, "No." he growled up his throat. "I'm nothing like my father." He slumped his shoulders and allowed himself to retreat into the traces of darkness of the balcony glass doors. He paused in his strides, twisting around to gaze at his lifelong friend, "I need you to stop believing in me." he said with disdain in his low voice. "I'm going to be the one who will save Gotham."

Alfred narrowed his eyes, words, hesitated in his voice. "Be careful with your words, Master Wayne because they might come true."

"Whatever," Bruce huffed, with spite laced in his breath.

The old Englishman clenched his jaw and glared up at Bruce with an uncertain gleam in his eye. "I won't allow your stubbornness to exile the Wayne family out of Gotham." He stared at his young charge with concealed grief welded in his crisp blue eyes as he unleashed scolding words at Bruce. "You're careless might become the death of this great family."

Bruce scowled fiercely at his old butler. "They're already dead, Alfred."


	5. Chapter 5

**A Dreamer's Paradise**

**Chapter 5**

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A brilliance of the first light of dawn peeked over the misty mountains, a streak of golden light expelled with the canvas of tarnished rose and azure blue, the tranquil pools of the oceans rolled against the white sand shores of Themyscira.

Standing in her flawless ivory robe, the Queen of the Amazon's Hippolyta overlooking the shadows passively of the island with her piercing steel blue eyes. Her chiseled features tense and full ruby lips curved into a firm line. She felt a harrowing sense of disturbance in the humid breeze, an unknown threat veiling beyond her stern gaze. Her blood rippled in her heated veins as her hand gripped her staff tightly and she whispered silently with a soft breath to Athena, searching for council with the goddess of wisdom.

"I am fooling myself, mighty Athena?" she whispered, her voice gentle and wary. "Diana is reaching the age for shadowing the throne, but I still feel unsettled about her destiny which Fates foreseen." She narrowed her eyes, staring at the rose blooming over lush green vines crawling up the ivory pillar. Her hand reached out, fingers delicately caressed the petals as she released a despondent sigh. "She has the heart and compassion of being a Queen, but yet I sense a rebellious spirit flowing within her. She dreams about discovering Man's World and learning their ideals. I know she is forbidden to leave our shores. She craves for freedom beyond the palace walls."

She descended from the stone steps and moved to the ledge, resting her palms on the rough stone as he silver bracelets gleamed in the morning light. "For too long I have kept Diana from her fate. She is not like the daughters that were rescued by Thetis were drowning in unforgiving waters the sea. She was created for a purpose for becoming the ultimate warrior of the gods and protector of this Queendom."

Hippolyta lowered her head down, golden curls draped over her razor-edge cheeks as she felt her heart twist inside her throbbing rib cage. She closed her eyelids and listened to the soft voice flowing in the gentle wind buffing over her still features. Then she heard the sound of footsteps wafting behind her, quickly she reacted and spun on her heels, staring at her eldest daughter leaning against the frame of the door.

Diana was maturing into a fine young Amazon, her sleek raven hair shone with the glow of warmth and piercing ocean blue eyes captured everything into the depth of her intense gaze. She had her mother's strong cheekbones and the same beautifully shaped mouth of the goddess Athena, but she also had a semblance of misguidance and an untamed will power that getting stronger.

"Good morning, mother," Diana addressed with a brisk voice. "Did the gods bless you with rest?"

"Good morning, Diana," Hippolyta replied, her voice firm and soft. "Why are you up early this dawn?"

Diana chewed on her lip, "I have questions, mother." she said, inching closer to her mother's radiant presence. The words, hesitated in her throat as she met the Queen's piercing blue daggers. "I want to know more about Man's World, mother. I know that you will refuse to answer, but this time please tell the truth that you've seen when you left the island."

"There is nothing to say, Diana." Hippolyta answered, her jaw clenched as she spoke. "What you wish to know will only give you dread." She closed the distance between them, placing a firm hand on Diana's bare shoulder. "I have taught to keep the peace locked within yourself, my daughter. This Queendom has protected since you were created by my hands and my blood. So it will keep on protecting you and your sisters."

"You're wrong, mother." Diana interjected, refusing to receive those words. " I sense a peace about Man's World within my heart. I know you taught to follow the truth you have given to me, but I feel that mortals do not reek of dread and worship death." She swallowed down, feeling a constriction in throat as an image of the billionaire prince, Bruce Wayne invaded her thoughts. His shadowed sea colored eyes filled with hidden pain and his gorgeous face darkened by demons of the past.

Diana felt her soul shift inside her, as she gathered the courage to face her mother with the truth. "Last night, the gods blessed me with a dream of a mortal man...A handsome warrior of a hellish city cursed by Hades."

"A mortal man," Hippolyta said, breathless as she searched in her daughter's eyes. "Diana, what have I told you about the desires of the worthless swine." She tore her eyes away, the pitch of her voice changed into something fierce. "Men enslaved us and turned us into gold for their desires of lust and carnage of the heart. I want you to stop putting these ridiculous dreams in your head. They will only become a distraction and make you weak."

"No, mother." Diana snapped, her lips stiffened into a scowl. "They will make me grow stronger. It is your words that make my spirit weak."

"How dare you use that tone against me, Diana." The Queen growled, jaw tightened into rigid expression. Her eyes became flames of blue fire as she clenched her hand into a fist. "If you ever speak what Man's World or mortal lust, daughter." She pointed a hand to Diana. "I will lock you in your bed chambers until you come to your senses, princess of the Amazons."

Diana stared at her mother's brow crinkling with inward hatred. She crossed her hands over her chest and glared up at Hippolyta, her eyes penetrating into her mother's heart. "You cannot keep me under your shield forever, mother. I will have freedom from this island and you."

Hippolyta looked at her with a stone face, her eyes burning with tears. She slammed her eyelids closed and turned away from her daughter. "I am only trying to protect you, Diana. It's a mother's responsibility to shield her daughter from harm." She pressed her hand over her chest, feeling a dull ache. "You are becoming your own woman and I can not force you to carry out your desires. I can only warn you and hope my the blessings of Athena that you will discover the truth, I've been trying to tell you."

"Mother," Diana spoke gently, placing her hand on Hippolyta's strong arm. " I know that you fear about me leaving the shores of my home," She lowered her eyes down. "I will never forsake your words in my heart. If I desire to leave one day, I will always carry you within me."

"The wisdom of Athena flows within you, Diana." The Queen answered, stroking her fingers through Diana's raven locks.

Diana curled the edges of her lips into a weak smile. "And my mother."


	6. Chapter 6

**A Dreamer's Paradise**

**Chapter 6**

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After a few hours of training in the sparring ring with the captain of her mother's royal guard, Diana stood regally at the entrance of the dark cave. Her piercing ocean blue eyes stared at his slumbering form, transfixed at the rise and fall of his slender, graven chest. His muscles tarnished by sunlight and youthful features beaming with radiance. She inched closer, taking off her sandals and feeling the cold stone against her bare feet. Her eyes gleamed with fierce curiosity in the depth of her blue irises. She couldn't stop herself from invading into his forbidden territory.

The intoxicating musk of masculine essence wavered off his heated, still body. Shadows etched over his chiseled features and highlighted the arch of his soft lips. Every fiber in her body whirled and seared with foreign feelings, making her heart thump faster inside her chest. Inside the pit of her stomach, conviction settled in the ripples of uncertainty when she heard her mother's warning replay in the back of her mind.

She froze momentary, trying to put a barricade between the division splitting through her. She felt something pull her closer to him, a soothing grip of trust that she had never felt with any of her sisters on the island before, it is somewhat fascinating to her restless spirit. She parted her lips, releasing silent and compressed breath. Her skin burns as she crouched down beside him, and hand slowly raised to catch the glimmers of sunlight as it reflects in her raven curls.

"Hera," she discharged out a shaky exhale. "Forgive me."

Taking another deep breath, Diana placed her soft hand on his firm chest pectoral. The edge of her ruby colored lips upturn into a beautiful smile as she felt his strong heartbeat. Her eyes narrowed at his face, noticing a touch of dark stubble on his jaw. Her heart twisted into a constricting knot in her chest, she felt a dull ache and cautiously caressed the soft pads of her fingers over his sharp jaw line.

"Mother is wrong about you, Bruce." She whispered in a gentle breath, studying the features of his visage. "You're not a bloodthirsty savage that will enslave us. No, you're a warrior of the darkness and a champion of your city of Gotham." She clenched her eyelids shut, blocking away the sunlight. "I want you to take me back to your world. I do not want to remain a captive under my mother's guard anymore."

Bruce groaned a little as he began to stir, his lips moved as he exhaled softly. "Diana," he said, his voice sounded raw, almost like his throat was caught in a vice, bringing the octave lower. He blinked open his clear blue-greenish eyes and squinted against the slant of light streaming from the entrance. He cleared his throat, and blinked, slowly. His vision, watery as he firmly became focused on her. He placed his hand on her bare shoulder, gripping the muscle tightly. "How long was I out?" he asked, staring intently into her calm blue pools.

"It is almost midday," Diana answered, grabbing a ceramic bowl of cut fruit. She placed it on a stone in front of him. "I brought nourishment from the palace gardens. The fruit is like a gem on the island and a healer for any infections your body endures while staying here."

Bruce nodded simply, curving his lips into an infectious, boyish smile. "Thank you, Diana."

She smiled and rose to her feet. "Today is not a good a day to gather the supplies. My sisters are out training in the forests. Tomorrow we will start building the raft. Remain hidden in this place. You're safe here, Bruce."

"Will you stay with me, Diana?" he asked uncharacteristically, his sea water colored orbs gleaming with tenderness.

Diana mashed her teeth into a her bottom lip, her eyes drifted to the ivory palace. "My mother will never approve of me neglecting my studies." She blew out a breath, moving a few bangs off of her forehead. "If you want me to stay with you, I can show more of the island without crossing paths with my sisters." She rubbed her lips together, "Or we can stay here, in the cave and talk more about your home?" she offered.

Bruce narrowed his eyes, his jaw tensed, "There isn't much more to talk about Gotham, Diana." he sighed, looking at a hint of disappointment in her eyes. "I can tell you about other places I've traveled when I was a boy." His lips curled into a firm grin. "But on one condition?"

Diana's eyes lit up at his words. "What?" she demanded.

"You tell me the reason why you want to leave this island." He answered, straightening the bare muscle planes of his back against the wall. He handed her a piece of fruit, it looked similar to a pear expect it to have orange-reddish skin and yellow flesh. Diana became silent at first, and then she nodded.

"I want to see the world and prove to my mother that is wrong about mankind," she whispered, biting into the sweet tasting fruit. "And I want you to show me everything about Gotham."

Bruce shot up one eyebrow, giving her a dumbfounded expression, "Everything... Diana?" he rasped.

She smirked, defiantly. "Yes. Everything about your city and the mortals that dwell there, Bruce Wayne."

He stubbornly agreed. "Alright, princess." He said with a rich baritone, looking steady in her eyes. "I'll show you my world. But I can't promise that you will like it."

Diana leaned in closer, her warm breath swept over his clenching jaw, "We'll see, Bruce."


	7. Chapter 7

**A Dreamer's Paradise**

**Chapter 7  
**

* * *

"Why do you pray to your gods for strength?" Bruce asked, feeling beads of sweat roll off his tarnished back. "Do they bring comfort to you. Diana?" He lifted his unyielding seawater colored eyes and met Diana's stern gaze as she tilted her body against a tree.

"My mother told me that praying to the gods eases the disbelief and falsehoods that lie within ourselves."

She answered back, keeping her blue eyes focused on the range of emotions etched in his chiseled face.

"Our patron gods give my sisters hope that the flames of war will not prevail because we find our strength within our hearts." She narrowed her eyes low; staring at the pink flower petals gracefully fall over her bare toes. "In order to become a great warrior one must carry the wisdom of her people with the sword she wields and the promise that darkness will never last."

Bruce narrowed his eyes, curving the edges of his lips into a sullen frown, "I am not a warrior, Diana," he replied, his voice a scarce whisper. "I will never become wise and carry the hearts and mind of the people of Gotham. That city as forsaken everything my father stood for-everything that man stands for in our world."

Diana crouched to her knees, delicately picking up a blooming flower with the palm of her hand. She rose to her feet faster than he expected and looked at him with a tender gleam in her cobalt eyes.

Her hand extended out as he watched the muscles of her arms, coil, revealing her powerful endurance. She studied him with a long, and penetrating stare, making his veins burn with searing heat. She lowered her eyes once again to the flower, "Man's world is like this flower Bruce, it is beautiful all eyes that seek the promises that lie within the folds of truth, but it is also fragile and can easily become destroyed." She ripped off a single petal, allowing it to fall on the earth. "If you protect the truth which has become covered by the shadows, and keep it close to you then you will see the beauty in front of you.":

He looked sternly at the flower resting over her tarnished ivory skin. He stepped impossibly close; making Diana withdrew a stride back as he locked his darkened eyes with her sonant blue orbs. His mouth formed a simple straight line that made her stomach flutter as she gaped at the corners of his full lips upturn into something forbidden and dangerous. "Why do you say things that you've haven't seen yet, Diana?" He flexed his jaw tightly, and crossed his broad arms over his drenched, graven torso. He tore his intense eyes away; looking down at the pieces of the raft piled near a fruit tree. "I know you're anxious to see my world, but there isn't really anything special about Gotham..." he paused in his words, feeling his throat constrict almost like glue seal it shut. "Well, maybe there was at one time before it went to Hell."

"Hades," she corrected him, glaring at him indignantly.

Bruce stiffened his jaw, exhaling out a sharp breath, "Whatever." Diana cracked her knuckles; her chest burned with vehemence, but then she settled her eyes on the map of scars down his torso. She creased her eyebrows, studying the silver scars and he took her hand and gently placed it over his waist. "These are daily reminders that give me assurance that I will never become weak. My scars reveal that I can outrun death. They are my victories."

"Why did you allow yourself to enter those battles?" she asked, her voice laced with curiosity. "Were you a part of an army?"

He lifted his eyebrow, his expression became stone-like, " No," he rasped out with a daunting growl ragging up his throat. "I just got myself caught in the middle of lots of fist and knife fights. Some I walked away from with clean breaks and other's I wasn't so lucky?" He rubbed his scarred elbow. "When I made clean breaks-"

"I know what you mean, Bruce." Diana shot back, studying his tall stature, and noticing indents of dislocated bones underneath layers of hard, sweaty muscle. "I have broken many bones during my sparring sessions -it is honor of an Amazon to allow weakness to become dissolved in wounds that mold our strength. "I honor your endurance and perseverance as a warrior and a mortal, Bruce Wayne." She placed the flower in his hand. "This flower is a symbol of the friendship we have now forged."

Bruce stared down at the flower, and then lifted her hand close to his mouth. The softness of his lips brushed warmth over her knuckles, as she looked up at him with an alarming expression etched over her face. The silence grew between them as she felt a stirring in her blood, igniting an unfamiliar sense -making her rib cage throb as she raked her blue chasms over him cautiously.

He was gorgeous, height measuring six feet, dark chocolate hair shortened with bangs hooded over his feral, intense blue eyes mirroring her own gaze. Half of his face covered in shadow, as light caressed over the depth of his cheeks and turned the rosy color of his lips into gold. He kept his hand enveloped over hers, pulling in her close as she felt her surrounding blur into spectrum's of rose.

"We're not friends, Diana." he suddenly snarled, convicting edging into his voice.

She stepped back, confused at his resonating growl, almost catching the darkness in his tone.

"Then what are we, Bruce?" She demanded, defenses rose in her blood. "We cannot be anything else."

Bruce inched closer, grasping her ebony strands, she jolted as the heat of his body enter her lithe, strong frame. "We're-" He ceased his words, lips clamped shut into a straight line as coarse whiskers of his sturdy jaw became visible in the rays of light. His face never flinched as he stared at her with blue fire in his eyes, almost like molten steel. He saw the resolve in her eyes, and narrowed his head as his voice became a soft mixture of heartache and dread. "Partners."

She arched one eyebrow up, "Partners?"


End file.
